Recent content by aquaticko

I can sympathize...ish. I used to live a literal block away from a freight rail line going through central Beaverton, OR (have moved elsewhere in the city), and it can be genuinely disturbing--though only in the most literal sense. The FRA regulations about freight train horns are really too...

Sad thing is, because the wages are so low back east, doing the same job as I am here in Metro Portland--Oregon--I can (relatively) comfortably afford a nice 2BR at 1700/month, while I still get recruiters contacting me in Greater Boston offering at best 2/3's the pay I make here. The whole of...

Figures I'd start to see the sorts of developments in NH that I'd expected to see in Oregon, yet mostly haven't. It's definitely exciting to consider how much more lively downtown Manch could be with all these projects in place!

I know little enough to ask: is a half-measure not better than none? After all, considering that we know it's just physically impossible to overhead any railways in America beyond those that already have it--it just can't be done; it's science--electrifying with a model that...

It should be said that technocratic planning isn't inherently a bad thing, either. The problem is from a category error: we treat cars as mass transportation, use them as such, when at most a car holds 9 people per vehicle. Buses can hold many dozens, and trains can move hundreds per vehicle...

Don't you think have a hotel immediately adjacent to Amtrak services would be a nice thing for tourists wanting to stay in Boston? The fact that both of those are probably desirable uses shows just how important South Station is--and this is before a hypothetical...

Well then, it's extra stupid, because real estate is space for people, highways are spaces for cars, and the latter directly eats into the former. Pretending that there's no connection between the two is dumb, to be kind.

It's so tragic that that's true. You look at places like Austria, Korea, Italy, Spain....In Korea in particular, they're tunneling everything, even things they arguably shouldn't like trams. It's not like the U.S.' geology is so special we can't do it; we just have so many...

One of the things that I think Boston takes for granted is its anchor institutions. MIT, Harvard, every other major university, Mass General, the Latin School, the MFA, the BSO....All that stuff is obviously a huge draw, and can't really be moved elsewhere, but nothing lasts forever. If you...

Anyone know if there are related drives--statewide or nationally--to get public spending on roadways in line? If use fees are supposed to be what funds transportation funding, I'm not sure why transit should be the only mode subject to that expectation....

I wish they'd reconnect those roads that are severed by Queen City Ave to break up its somewhat stroad-y nature. So close to downtown, it makes sense to slow cars down a bit, especially given that they intend to extend the rail trail across the road into downtown, though I understand that people...

I think for most American cities' transit agencies' board of directors, having people around who just nod and say "aye" is a good thing, especially if the resident technical expert can bring in expertise from Continental Europe/East Asia. Way too may boards of directors seem to think they know...

^^Worth noting, too, that SGR can manage to be a huge money sink without having to show anything for itself. Punctuality the same as it was years ago, at whatever percent <95? Trains having mechanical issues like before? Regions served the same as 40-50 years ago? Great! That'll be billions of...